A Chill Goes Through Their Veins
by TomorrowNeverCame
Summary: My take on what will happen in the freezer in Countdown!  Will continue after the episode, where Kate is in the hospital.  Caskett, of course!  I just couldn't resist the title.  Please R&R!
1. A Chill Goes Through Their Veins

**Spoilers for Setup and Countdown!**

**Disclaimer: Proud owner of Heat Wave and the Season 1 DVD, but nothing else!**

_**CastleXBeckett=Caskett!**_

"Kate," Castle's call tore her attention away from her position at the door. Turning around, Castle's expression turned her body to ice. He was standing above a frozen lump, his eyes wide in panic. "It's Jamal." _Oh, crap._

Struggling to remain calm, Beckett forced herself to take even steps over to where Castle stood with the frozen body. "At least now we know what happened to him." She crouched down beside the man and examined him, "there's blood around his head. It looks like he was knocked out and tossed in here."

"So, he died from the cold," Castle concluded flatly. Beckett stood up and glared at him, though she was really more afraid than angry.

"Or he was hit hard enough to kill," she defended. She couldn't accept that it was cold enough to kill them, but in the back of her mind she knew how cold it really was in here even if they weren't feeling it. She wrapped an arm around her middle and rubbed her shoulder.

Castle looked at her worriedly, "how cold do you think it is in here?"

"I don't know," she shrugged, "below zero for sure." _Cold enough for hypothermia. We have to get out of here fast._

"What are we going to do?" he moved away from Jamal and stood near her, wanting but reluctant to put his arms around her.

"We try to get out." Her eyes steeled in determination and she pulled out her gun. "Do you have your cell?" If they could call Montgomery or the boys, she wouldn't need to use her gun, but she had little hope.

"No service," he answered, "I checked before we came in the warehouse."

Beckett swore. "Castle, stand back." She instructed, lining up a shot at the door.

'Do you think that will work?" he asked skeptically, crouching behind the frozen man and eyeing her warily.

"Worth a shot," she grinned for a moment at her phrasing, then fired without warning. The bullet ricocheted, glancing of the door. Before she could duck, however, Castle hit her from behind and knocked her to the ground.

"Castle," she growled. He was still lying on top of her, an arm wrapped protectively around her waist. Lifting her head, she rubbed it gingerly and looked around; her wasted bullet had imbedded in the far wall of ice.

"Are you okay?" Castle immediately kneeled next to his partner and put a warm hand over hers on the back of her neck and supporting her while she sat up. She sat up quickly and froze. The author's hand was still on her neck, covering hers, and his face was too close. Kate could feel his breath on her face, and knew that he could feel hers, too.

"Kate…..." Castle's eyes were wide and wondering as he looked at her. She could sense she was losing herself, gazing into his blue eyes, but she couldn't care. He was warm and close and holding her gently. Drawn like magnets, they began to move towards each other without thinking. Moments before their lips touched, a violent shiver went through the detective's body. Quickly, she rolled up and stood, facing away from her partner while she regained her senses. _What the hell what I thinking? _She berated herself. Her cheeks felt hot and her heart was beating fast, which reminded her of their situation.

"We have to keep moving around," she told him, still not turning her head and feeling frozen on the spot.

"Right," she heard him start to walk around and shivered again. _Damn, this is not going to be pleasant. _She walked around, too, trying to keep her thoughts off her companion.

"Beckett?" the writer's voice was odd, defeated.

"Yeah, Castle?"

"I'm sorry." That made her look. She turned to him and furrowed her brow in confusion, silently asking him what he could be sorry for; because she was sure he wasn't talking about their almost-kiss.

"It's my fault we're here. If I hadn't convinced you to keep investigating we wouldn't be here," he admitted. She walked until she stood right in front of him and spoke in a hard voice.

"No. This is not your fault. I would have kept on this anyways, and if it hadn't been for you we probably wouldn't have gotten this far," she told him. "Castle, we _found the bomb. _When we get out of here we will find it, and everything will be o-okay," her last statement was choked through. She had started shivering again, the cold getting to her.

"Hey," Castle moved closer and pulled her into his arms, rubbing his hands over her shoulders, "come here and sit down." Without waiting for her to do it herself he pulled Kate down beside him. For a while they sat just like that, trying in vain to stop their convulsions. Their fingers were numb, and no doubt their feet were, too.

"Ca-Castle?" Kate whispered, lifting her head off of his chest as much as she could to look at him.

"Yeah?" he asked back, tightening his hold on her unconsciously.

"When-when you g-get out of here," she stuttered,

"When _we _get out of here," he corrected automatically. She couldn't start talking like that. He wouldn't give up on her. Castle could feel her shivers and knew she was much colder than he was because she was so much smaller. It was the first time he realized just how short and thin she was, since she normally commanded such great authority. She was only 5'9" and maybe 120 pounds.

"When you get out of he-here," she repeated, not having any fantasies that they would both be completely fine, "you have-have to c-call my f-father."

"No, I won't. You're going to call him yourself when-when Ryan and Esposito start using their heads they'll c-catch up to us and-and get us out of here," he told her with firm conviction, "until then you just have to hang on, Kate. Stay with me."

"I-I'm trying, I'm re-really trying. Castle…" her last word turned into a sigh and her grip relaxed. Beckett's head dropped against her partner's chest as she lapsed into unconsciousness.

"Kate?" his hand rubbed her shoulder hard, trying to shake her awake, "Kate!"


	2. Saving Angels

**Disclaimer: I am the owner of nothing!**

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Castle was frantic. Trying to warm his still unconscious partner had produced no results other than making him a little warmer from moving.

"Come on K-Kate, don't do this to me," he muttered, rubbing his hand continually on her cheek and neck. It was scary, the way she looked. Her skin was deathly pale, the frost that decorated her eyelashes and hair giving the effect of crystals. _She looks like an angel, _he thought. For the thousandth time, he placed his numb fingers over her slightly open mouth and at her pulse point to reassure himself she was still breathing.

"Ple-please, Kate, you have to-to wake up now," he whispered urgently to her still form, "you can't leave me!" For the first time he noticed the warm wetness gathering in the corners of his eyes and blinked furiously to clear his vision. _I have to get her out of here, who knows how long it's been! _It was hard, but Castle was able to get his feet under him and stand up, shaking the entire time. As gently as he could, the writer laid his partner back against the wall.

Trudging his way over to the locked door, he half-heartedly banged his shoulder against it a few times. _No use, Kate couldn't do it when she was still at full strength. _He cursed softly and pulled out his cell again, thanking every god he could think of that it was miraculously still working. _Maybe there's a signal somewhere in here. There's got to be! _

Shaking, he made his way over to the upper left corner of the front of the freezer and slowly dragged his phone along the edge as high as he could reach. Nothing. He moved slowly to the next wall and started scanning. Every breath he took brought a stinging pain to his lungs, but he worked through it and kept moving. He looked back at Kate occasionally and had to fight the urge to go back to her. He felt warmer now, but looking at his partner sent a cold shock of fear down his spine.

He was almost ready to give up; it was easier to move now but still felt colder than ever. Moving to the last wall, his mouth set in a grim line as he passed the frozen Jamal. Painfully lifting his arm to the low ceiling, he reached his phone to the very top and heard a quiet _ping! _At that moment, it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He lowered his phone but quickly jammed it back up when he lost the signal. It was hard and uncomfortable, but me managed to type a quick message.

**Ryan- 911 wrehouse trace fone lokd in freezr Kates KOd! Brng hlp fnd bmb!**

His arm shaking badly and fingers without feeling, he couldn't hold up his phone long enough to see if he got a reply. Still, he felt like dancing. Help was coming, and Kate would be alright. At least, that's what he had to believe. Smiling faintly, he crept back over to the beautiful detective and took her back in his lap.

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"_Hey! _HEY!" The writer's roar echoed through the freezing container. He could faintly hear voices on the other side and they were getting closer. Holding the freezing Beckett still in his arms, he could only barely feel her pulse though he couldn't tell if it was because he was losing her or from his own numbness.

"Castle?" there was a voice again, right outside.

"Ryan?" he shouted back, "we're in here!" torn between getting to the door and trying to keep Kate warm, he shifted where he sat.

"Hang on, we're getting you out!" a series of loud bangs followed the detective's statement and finally the door swung open. Bright lights flooded the freezer, making Castle squint into their glare to make out the figures rushing towards him. Ryan was the first to reach him, closely followed by Esposito and Lanie.

"Woah," Kevin stopped in his tracks at the sight of his friends before quickly rushing forward, "dude, how long you been in here?" carefully he lifted Beckett off of Castle while the other detective and medical examiner each grabbed an arm and pulled the author up.

"I don't know," he grunted, "maybe an hour and a half if I remember the time we came in." Someone threw a thick blanket over him and he stumbled out with his friends as MTs entered.

"How long has Kate been out?" Esposito asked, leading Castle out and to a waiting ambulance. Forcing him to sit down, he struggled to remain by his friend's side as the technicians swarmed him.

"45 minutes, maybe an hour," he looked away, "it's been a long time." Suddenly his burning gaze snapped back, "she's going to be alright, isn't she?" he looked past his friends desperately and watched as other techs loaded a still Kate onto a stretcher.

"Castle…." It was Lanie who put a hand on his shoulder, "you felt how weak her pulse is. There's no guarantee that-"

"No," he said firmly, "she will be okay." He choked back tears and swallowed thickly against a sob, "she has to be." _I don't know what I'll do if she isn't._

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**Okay! Thanks for the great response to my first chapter! Hope y'all like this one as much! One request though: I loved how I got 13 story alerts and like 5 favorite stories so quickly, but I was a little disappointed that there was only one review :( I think that if you have time to read through the whole chapter and press the button for Alerts, you should be able to spare a few extra seconds to leave a review.**

**So please R&R! Can't wait for the new episode tonight!**


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